I’m impressed Tim.
I heard the 1.5 in a very impressive Cessaro Liszt based setup and came away w great respect for the Monaco.
I have to say of all the uber contenders out there, SME30/12, Kronos Pro, AF1, the 2.0 is the one that floats my boat the most.
Before fans of these tts jump in and berate me for this opinion based on a non comparison, I’m guilty of stating this purely as a hunch.
For me I’m attracted more to the Monaco re it’s speed accuracy/stability attributes than the concept of counter rotational platters or uber vacuum hold down/air suspension/air bearing concepts.
And despite being pricey, the 2.0 is right at the lower end of stupid high end tt pricing.
For much of the modern era the focus has been on lowering noise and vibration abatement along with voltage stability into the motor. Cognizance of stable rotational accuracy was there but mostly at the level of lip service to wow and pitch stability - easy to understand why. Until something came along that showed those to be mere threshold standards, there was little causing sufficient awareness that might lead a manufacturer to focus sharply on the most fundamental of a 'table's jobs. Earlier Japanese DD 'tables made a fine go at it with the technologies of their time. Lots put into their restoration and preservation. Coming from outside any tradition, GPA was not bound; their's was a fresh start with a clean slate and an eye for the obvious. I speculate they worked only on a hunch that turned into a process of discovery, but their recognition of what is primary (spin the platter at 33-1/3 and do it quietly) was spot on. Just what the analog realm needs - fresh thinking. And a recognition that our ear/brain listening system - honed over many thousand years - is more sensitive than most analog implementations address.
Daveyf - out of professional courtesy I won't talk about MF's assessments of those two 'tables; saying that much may be more than enough.
The technology stuff is fun to talk about. Ultimately it is proved out by listening. It was by listening that the difference between the Monaco 1.5 and the 2.0 woke me up. The oceans rose and unicorns shat golden musical ducats.